Yoshikazu Tanaka, Ki-Sang Lee.
“In order to give (…) customers what they want within an appropriate timescale, we are committed to developing a broad range of technologies—including plug-in hybrid, electric vehicle and FCV, corresponding to the simultaneous diversification of energy sources.”
Yoshikazu Tanaka, Toyota head of fuel cell development, says that none of the alternative drives available to date are flawless. But in order to make them attractive to customers, different kinds of technologies fit for different situations are made available.
greencarcongress.com
“In order to give (…) customers what they want within an appropriate timescale, we are committed to developing a broad range of technologies—including plug-in hybrid, electric vehicle and FCV, corresponding to the simultaneous diversification of energy sources.”
Ki-Sang Lee, senior vice-president of Hyundai Motors confirms that the South Korean carmaker plans on developing a fully-electric vehicle by 2016, while it had focused on FCVs until this point.
reuters.com
“There is no clear direction about which eco-friendly cars will win. We are dividing the roles of Hyundai and Kia, with Hyundai launching fuel cell cars and Kia focusing on electric cars. But the time will come when Kia will introduce a fuel-cell car. Hyundai is also preparing to launch a (battery-powered) electric car in 2016.”
“A Rolls-Royce cannot come with any kind of compromise, and both the recharging times and the range were not acceptable for our buyers – but with hybrid technology that is no longer a problem.”
“We will have to have a zero-emission car in the range in order to meet regulations. We need this by 2025, possibly even sooner for certain markets.”
“The scale of Tesla’s battery production, even for its own use as an auto manufacturer, thrusts the company into ‘key player’ status for grid storage.”
Lit Motors receives new funding: Thanks to a successful funding round collecting 1 million dollars, the startup from San Francisco is now able to hire a full engineering team and build a new driving prototype of its C-1 self-balancing motorcycle. The new prototype is said to go 100 mph and will be able to do 45-degree banked turns.
“Efficient combustion engines for the present, hybrids and fuel cell in about ten years time.”
“The speed of the development of the market is not at the level we were expecting.”
“I personally think that the hybrid drive will become the dominant drive train in the upper vehicle classes.”
“We see what BMW is doing and it’s interesting, but I don’t think we will do it. Perhaps it makes it easier for people to switch to EVs for a short while, but this situation will pass quite quickly; the answer is greater range on the car and also a better infrastructure for charging, and these things are coming fast.”
“I take Tesla seriously. From my perspective, it is positive if a manufacturer drives electric mobility further. We will benefit from it with our electric vehicles BMW i3 and i8 too. By the way, this is also applicable vice versa.”
“Electric mobility is not a priority.”
“Once we see that an electric vehicle is profitable, we will already have access to that technology.”
QUANT e unveiled: The long awaited electric sport limousine features four motors (one per wheel) with a total power output of 644 kW enabling a top speed of over 380 kph (236 mph). The nanoFLOWCELL technology gives the vehicle a range of 600 kilometres (373 miles). A manufacturing prototype should be ready by the end of the year and commercialisation is planned for 2015.
“With Tesla, we are already implementing strategies and will continue to do so in the future. Investing in Tesla was one of the best things we ever did.”
“In my garage is no space for this.”
“Further high-efficiency models such as the Audi A8, A6 and Q7 or the plug-in hybrid version of the Volkswagen Passat are to follow soon. Because this technology has a future.”
